bi-coastal news

I sort of owe you guys an explanation about the last post! So I'll start from the beginning...

I've been on the hunt for my own (and first!) apartment in Brooklyn. It's taking way longer than I'd like, and because I really want to be in a specific area (near the L subway line so I can get to work, etc) I also decided to temporarily live with Matt in his apartment so that it's easier to search. I've had to change my mindset a lot these past few months. First, I thought I'd want to live alone. Then I thought about living with friends, which didn't work out, multiple times...

THEN... I decided to look on Craigslist for a room share. I found the PERFECT place with a cute room, my own bathroom, and a beautiful backyard and deck. I really loved it. The girl said she stopped interviewing other people and said she'd get back to me this week. Unfortunately, she somehow decided to go with someone else!?! It's my own fault for getting my hopes up, but it seemed really promising... aaaaand back to square one.

Now I'm leaving for my extremely postponed vacation to San Francisco early tomorrow morning. If you are a dedicated blog reader, you might remember this post where I was waiting eagerly in December for my flight, got to the airport, and missed it due to the stupid weather.  Luckily I was able to rebook my flight, however I was hoping the whole apartment thing would be settled by then!

So right now I'm trying my best to stay excited for San Fran and hopeful that I'll be able to have a place before August 1st. The worst case is that I continue to live with Matt until I do find the perfect apartment, which isn't so bad  ;)

Anyways, wish me luck! Also, if you have any recommendations for San Francisco, I'm all ears!!!

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Be back next week!

-gabrielle

your lips are red.

I am especially excited for quite a few reasons:

1. I got a full night's sleep last night thanks to a brand new air conditioning that Matt installed himself in the apartment

2. I made my first cup of (iced) coffee from my old coffee pot this morning! I've been trying to live without it since moving but I just... can't... resist...

3. I just found out that St. Vincent, the talented artist Annie Clark, is coming out with a new album in September (the day before my birthday, woohoo!) and she is playing twice in NYC! I definitely want to see her at the Met's garden roof show, how cool will that be?!

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There are a bunch more of other things I can think of to list, but I think I'll save those for another day :)

Cheers,

gabrielle

illustrated cameras

Hey there! I finally have enough energy to blog now that the busy weekend is over and I'm finally in air conditioning! Woohoo

I had a great weekend going back home. It was especially nice spending time with my family, doing yoga in the park (while my bro played bongos!) and going to my old childhood friend's wedding! Really exciting. Pictures to come (crossing my fingers the film pics turn out well!)

Anyways... as you may know, Matthew and I have started our own blog called Smooth Sailing. We like posting photos we take together and we're even starting some new & exciting projects!

Here's an illustration that I drew of both our cameras! It was fun to compare the differences between them. New + old love... camera friends forever!

Hope you like it! I hope to do more illustrations like these soon :)

Stay cool! xoxo

-gabrielle

in the mood for...

via the beauty department

nothing better than pink & blue hair to cheer you up on a rainy friday!

also, i'm feeling super inspired by designlovefest! (hence, photoshopped images)

feeling like the blog could use a good makeover one of these days. here's a start!

happy weekends!

gabrielle.

hats for kate illustration

Hey there! Happy Friday & especially happy Canada day (that exists?)

In honor of Will & Kate visiting Canada, I volunteered to illustrate one of the hats from HatsforKate.ca for Amelia's Magazine, which features high-fashion Canadian themed hats for Kate to hypothetically wear on her trip to Canada.

The one I chose was "Tar & Feathers." I had a lot of fun creating this piece. I chose to use my drawing tablet so this is a pretty new style for me. I think I like it :)

Check it out here on Amelia's Magazine!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a safe 4th of July!!! <3

g.

what i wore: first day of summer

As you may or may not know, Gemma Corell's "What I Wore Today" blog/Flickr group is now becoming a book!

She asked all doodlers to contribute their best "what I wore" drawing and she will select some to have published in her book.

Of course, typical me waits til the last day of the contest to enter... I spent a lot of time on this drawing but unfortunately all the little details I love are lost in the image. I also used the crappy work scanner, so this is definitely not the best represenation, but I do like the simplicity and semi-realism I have going on.

What do you think? Did anyone else participate in the contest?

What I Wore: First Day of Summer:
H&M sunnies
Rosebud salve
Gold tree necklace from Nyack
Orange silky tank
NY&CO flowy watercolor skirt
Dunkin iced coffee
Essie nailpolish
Tan satchel
Target platform sandals

Also, if you can see it, I have a sketchbook in my drawing that has this drawing in it. It's like a drawing within a drawing...

Have a good weekend & happy summer!

-gabrielle.

H-E- triple hockey sticks

In honor of Father's Day, my co-worker Marcie asked if I could illustrate her three boys in a portrait!

She has older twins and a little boy. It was my first time drawing children (& twins!) but I think I captured their individuality really nicely.

Marcie and her husband are from Montreal, so naturally they are a big hockey family :)

I'm really pleased with the way it came out. I feel a lot more comfortable drawing from pictures now and I even see improvement from when I first started!

If you like what you see, you can check out my Etsy store and order your own personalized portrait!

-gabrielle.

emmy the great illustration

Hey hey! I'm super excited today because this week I responded to a Twitter callout via Amelia Gregory, who runs the fabulous illustration blog Amelia's Magazine.

This week she needed a few illustrations for some upcoming articles, and I jumped on the opportunity. She needed an illustration for an article about the singer Emmy the Great. I listened to her while drawing the portrait and I absolutely loved her! She's very folk-y and has a beautiful voice.

This is the illustration I created, using Micron pens & watercolors. I somehow completed it in one night! That's definitely the fastest thing I've ever done haha...

Check out the article here!

This week I'm also working on a custom portrait of my co-worker's 3 sons for father's day. I will be posting that soon!

Stay tuned! Have a great day :)

-gabrielle.

adventures in brooklyn.

horray for the end of the week! although i really shouldn't be complaining because i had the past 2 days off from work. now it's friday but it feels like a monday... so confusing.

anyways, i've been hanging out in brooklyn with matthew. we have been really busy bike riding, collaborating, taking pictures (with my 'new' 35mm canon from ebay... i love it so much... see smiling photo above), apartment hunting, eating delicious food, but most of all trying to stay cool! preferably with tons of iced coffee, refreshing fruit & cool salads.

it was matthew's birthday a few days ago and i bought him tickets to see thao & mirah for this past wednesday. it was amazing to see them live (again!) & they certainly never disappoint. my favorite was hearing them play "little cup" but i also have so many new favorite songs after hearing them live.

the opening band was bobby. i never heard of them before but they were totally awesome! they had sweet stage lighting & it was really cool to watch.

all photos by matthew. you can see more on matthew's blog!


-gabrielle.

introducing 'smooth sailing'

Good morning! Isn't it beautiful outside today? I thought so too :)

I want to introduce my new collaboration with my friend Matthew Alexander.

We are always inspiring each other and now that we started working together, we thought it would be nice to have a space on the internet to show our work.

So without further ado... please check out our new website called "Smooth Sailing." We will be posting lots of photos, drawings and little stories to go with each of our pieces. 

Here's a little peek at what's there now, but we will be updating the site regularly!

Be sure to check it out and read our About Us page :)

-gabrielle.

alex & angelo

Hey everyone! Long time no... blogging.

I hope you all had a fantastic long weekend/Memorial day! I was happy to have an extra day off so I could play in the sun all weekend! It was great.

Today I'm showing you another portrait of my friend Alex and her boyfriend Angelo. She was actually my first sale on Etsy since I added them to the shop!

She asked if I could include her little goldfish too, which I thought was so cute! They look like a happy little family, haha.

I also wanted to show you the framed version of Katie and Gary's portrait! It looks really nice and I can't wait to see where they put it!

Don't forget that Father's Day is just around the corner! 

Be sure to place your custom portrait orders soon! 

www.gabriellebrittney.etsy.com

-gabrielle.

katie & gary's portrait

Good afternoon! Did you enjoy your weekend? I definitely did... it was spent with my best friends from college (Maggie, Leah & Grace) for a surprise birthday party for my friend Katie!

Gary (Katie's boyfriend) successfully organized the whole night. First, we had drinks and dinner at Double O, and then ended the night at Shadow's for more drinks. It was a lot of fun, and best of all Katie was so surprised!

I drew Katie a portrait of her and Gary as her birthday present. They're a super cute couple and I'm so glad that they liked it! I gave it to her in a black frame with a white mat and it looked really awesome :)

Happy birthday Katie! I had so much fun with you (& our mums!) this weekend!

-gabrielle.